Editor interprets Pope's endorsement of sexual pleasure

Published: 01 January 2007

This week CathNews presents the top stories from 2006. This story was originally published on 20 February 2006

The editor of Perth's Record Catholic newspaper told a Sunday newspaper yesterday that Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) challenges the widespread belief that the Church is the "most sexually repressed institution in the world".

The Sunday Times reports that the editor, Peter Rosengren, said the Holy Father was suggesting that sex is good and is a gift from God.

"Benedict is essentially saying that erotic love is good and (is) a gift from God," he said.

He said that this contradicts the perception that Catholicism viewed sex as "a necessary evil" needed to produce children.

He said marriage is still the Church's "main game plan", and that those in de facto relationships are "missing out on the fullness of God's plan for life and love for each one of us".

"They're looking for love just like everyone else, but are eating cheap, takeaway, when they could be participating in a banquet," he said.